This invention relates to a facsimile network system capable of carrying out broadcast communication which enables documents in a memory of a key station to be sent automatically to multiple remote receiving stations (a group of telephone numbers) at regular intervals. More particularly, the invention concerns an automatic sending sheet forming system capable of automatically forming a sending sheet including the addresses (names) of a sender (key station) and remote receiving stations, date/time and a message, which is transmitted prior to the original document. (hereinafter referred to merely as "a sending sheet forming system", when applicable).
For instance in a facsimile broadcast communication, the remote receiving stations are clarified by enabling send header indicating the remote receiving stations to be recorded on the top of each document or by sending the document together with a sending sheet indicating the remote receiving stations. These type conventional systems or methods have been proposed in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. sho-63-9061 and Published Examined Japanese Patent Application Nos. sho-63-33821 and Hei-1-23027.
In these publications, data as to original documents (sending original data) are first stored in an image memory, and the telephone numbers and addresses of remote receiving stations are then stored in a remote station memory. Thereafter, for every communication, a remote station's telephone number and address are read out of the remote station memory so as to be combined with the sending original data read out of the image memory. As a result, the sending original data is formed which is obtained by incorporating the address data to the header of the sending original document. The sending original data thus formed is sent to the remote receiving stations through the lines.
Further, there is another Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. Sho-63-9365 disclosing a conventions system in which when the presence of a communication form is entered in an OMR sheet, communication form data and image data which have been read and stored before, are successively sent out.
The former convention systems are disadvantageous in that the sending original data formed is such that address data are only added to the header of a sending original document as was described above; that is, the amount of data is excessively small for a sending sheet. More specifically, it is impossible to form a sending sheet which includes, for instance, a greeting message expressing the feeling of the user (a calling party) sufficiently.
The latter one is also disadvantageous in that it is necessary to read the OMR sheet for every communication, and it is troublesome to for the OMR sheets. Further, a relatively long period of time is require to read the OMR sheet. Moreover, the conventional systems are low in operability, because the operator must enter an address in the communication form by himself.